Book-leaf holder



(No Model.)

J. MEYER. BOOK LEAF HOLDER.

No. 519,540. Patented May 8, 1894.

UN TED STATES PA ENT @FFICE.

JOSEPH MEYER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BOOK-LEAF HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 519,540, dated May 8, 18 94..

Application filed september 28,1893. Serial No. 486,747. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH MEYER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Im-. provements in Book-Leaf Holders, ofwhich the following is a specification.

The object of the present invention is to provide a book-leaf holder ofsuch character that it may be conveniently carried to and from school bya child, and so arranged on the desk as to hold the leaves of an openbook; and a further object of-the invention is to combine such abook-leaf holder with a scholars companion, the nature of thecombination being such that the scholars companion constitutes the baseof the book-leaf holder.

The invention consists in the features of novelty that are particularlypointed out in the claims hereinafter, and in order that it may be fullyunderstood I will describe it with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, which are made a part hereof, and in which- Figure l is aperspective view of the combined book-leaf holder and scholars companion. Fig. 2 is asection thereof, and of a book showing the manner inwhich the leaves are held open. Fig. 3 is an elevation of a fragment ofthe device, showing in detail the manner of hinging the parts together.

The scholars companion consists of a box comprising a body portion Aprovided with partitions arranged to form the desired compartments, anda hinged lid B. In order to form the hinge that unites the body and lid,the blanks of which these parts are made are provided with tongues thatare bent into tubes or and b, respectively, through which is passed awire or slender rod 0. This rod is bent at c, a, so as to form arms C,C, that are provided with L-shaped portions 0 that project downward, andit is bent again at some convenient point-preferably near the middletoform an arm 0 which is engaged by platespring D having one of its endssecured to the lid of the box. Preferably, the lid is slit, the springis passed through it, and that portion of the spring which is thusbrought beneath the lid is soldered. The arm C as shown in the drawings,takes the form of a loop through which the spring D passes, but the loopfeature has no function. The arm is in its nature a crank upon which thespring bears, giving the arms C a constant tendency toward the lid ofthe box and holding them normally against said lid, as-shown in Fig. Itwill be seen that any crank or eccentrlc portion, wherever located orhowever formed,

will answer the purpose of arm 0 shown in the drawings. When the leavesof an open book are to beheld, the arms C are lifted from the lid highenough to admit the top part of theoook between them and the lid, andwhen the book is put in place the arms are released, permitting thespring D to cause them to bear upon the book, as shown in Fig. 2. Whenthe book is removed the spring will return the arms C to contact withthe lid of the box, and when the lid is closed thedepending portions Cof the arms engage pr'otuberances G on the front of the box and hold thelid closed, as shown in Fig. 1.

It will be-seen that so far as the above described device is intendedfor use as a book holder, the scholars companion serves merely as abase, and I therefore desire to have it understood that while a base ofthis character is preferred, still, a base of any other character iswithin the scope of my invention so far as it relates to a bookholder'pure and simple.

The extremity dot the spring is turned down to form a stop for limitingthe upward move ment of the arms.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A book-leaf holder, having in combination a base, the rod C pivotedthereto and having arm C and arms C provided with downturned portions Cand a spring D secured to the base and engaging the arm 0 the arms beingrigid with the rod substantially as set forth. I

2. A book-leaf holder, having in combination a base, the rod C pivotedthereto, and having the arm C and arms C, and the spring Dssecured tothe base and engaging the arm 0 the extremity d of the spring being bentto form a stop for limiting the upward move: ment of the arms,substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, with a box comprising a body A and a lid B, of thearms C pivoted to the box and crossing the lid thereof, said adapted toengage the body of the box and l the body A and lid B, said body and lidhavhold the lid closed, and a spring for forcing ing tubes a and b,respectively, of the rod 0 said arms toward the box substantially as setextending through said tubes, and having I 5 forth. arms lying normallyupon the lid, a spring for 5 4. The combination, with a box comprisingforcing said arms toward the lid, and means the body A and hinged lid B,the body being for holding the lid closed, substantially as setlroyidedgvith lprcguberagces G, of llzhei arms forth.

pivote to t e ox, an having 1; e ownturned L-shaped portions 0 adaptedtoen- JOSEPH MEYER I gage the protuberanoes G, substantially as setWitnesses:

forth. 7 L. M. HOPKINS,

5. The combination, with a box comprising N. O. GRIDLEY.

